Those who vacation in resort neighborhoods of the Kohala Coast may not know they are eating Hawaii Regional Cuisine when they visit Roy’s and Merriman’s restaurants, but they are.  Chefs Peter Merriman and Roy Yamaguchi are two of the 12 (some say 19) gifted chefs who, in the late 1980s, established a culinary movement that blends Hawaii’s diverse ethnic, cross-cultural flavors.  Honolulu Magazine has named Merriman’s in Waimea (Kamuela) the best Big Island Restaurant for 13 consecutive years. Roy Yamaguchi is a James Beard Award winner based in Oahu, but there’s also a Roy’s in Waikoloa Beach Resort.

The main idea of Hawaii Regional Cuisine is to take advantage of fresh local island ingredients and incorporate them into creative and beautifully presented dishes.   The cuisine focuses on grass fed cattle raised upcountry on deep, lush pastures, tropical fruits and vegetables grown in rich volcanic soil, and large deep sea fish. If you are a red meat fan, I highly recommend a night at Kahua Ranch, or a tour of Parker Ranch to learn about Hawaii Island’s paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) past.

Previously, Hawaii’s food scene was sliced pineapple on a pizza.  Pricey Honolulu restaurants served meals made from frozen, picked-before-it’s-ripe food from distant lands.  Traditional Hawaiian cooking was distorted to meet mainland tastes.  When my parents think about dining in Hawaii, they think of poi, laulau, kalua pig and lomi salmon. This traditional Waikiki lu’au fare was soon followed by the “tiki” cooking style, which was mostly Cantonese with a fruity Hawaiian twist. Then came Hawaii Regional Cuisine which put the Aloha State on the international fine dining map.

Menus may include items such as seared albacore tuna with coconut ginger sauce; panko oysters with spicy, vine-ripened yomato relish; grilled mahimahi with poha, mango and papaya relish; furikake crusted salmon; Chinese pasta with sesame crusted opah and baked coconut taro.  Thank you to Sam Choy and my Choy of Seafood cookbook.

If you are visiting Hawaii in June, the state’s largest “foodie” festival happens on Oahu. Flavors of Honolulu is a three-day event showcasing dishes from more than 25 of the island’s best restaurants. There’s live musical entertainment, cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, a beer garden and exhibits.  The event takes place at the Honolulu Hale on South King Street. For more information call (808) 532-2115.

First-Time Homebuyers in Kona, Kohala, Mauna Kea Resort: If you’re in the market for the first time, buying a home as an investment is a wonderful opportunity. Not only are there federal funding options available for first-time buyers, but the low average cost of homes right now means that you can get more Hawaii home for your dollar. This is especially true if you’re looking for a home to live in for a few years. By buying a house now, you can have a place to call home and the potential to sell it for profit five, ten, or even twenty years from now.

Kona Home Flipping: “Flipping” a home, or buying a house and fixing it up to increase the resale value, has been made popular by television shows and success stories that boast of tens of thousands of dollars virtually overnight. However, the process of fixing up a house is a much larger task than it at first appears. If you plan to flip a house as a way to earn a living, make sure you know exactly what the construction projects will entail and how you will finance your way through the process for the entire time it might take to resell your investment home.

When Buying HI Real Estate, Timing is Everything: As a financial decision, buying real estate is often best taken advantage of as a long-term investment. After all, it can be difficult even for professionals to predict the Kona real estate market. That’s why one of the best ways to turn a profit on a Hawaii home is to plan on living in the home or renting it out for upwards of 10 years at a time. It’s one of the best ways to guarantee an increase in your investment, and to enjoy yourself – and your family – while doing it.

The most important thing to remember before delving into HI real estate as a way to make money is that there is no quick and easy road to riches. The recent housing bubble burst is perfect evidence of this, and many people learned the hard way that buying a home as an investment, like any financial decision, takes time, planning, and a little homework.

Preference for Ahi or Bigeye Tuna is growing rapidly around the world, and Hawaii is no exception.  Ahi is second only to Bluefin Tuna in popularity, especially among sushi and sashimi fans.  The Blue Ocean Institute currently classifies Ahi as a species heavy fished and its global stock low and falling.  The eastern pacific fishers are catching them faster than they can reproduce. 

Enter Hawaii Oceanic Technology (HOT).  Last month the company received community support to build a 247 acre, 12 cage Ahi farm about three miles off Malae Point in North Kohala.    The company hopes to raise 6,000 annual tons of Bigeye and Yellowfin Tuna.   About ten percent will be sold locally under the King Ahi brand.   HOT will limit availability of King Ahi in local stores to protect the livelihood of local fishers.

The fish will be bred in tanks on land where they will stay until they weigh about five pounds.  Then they will be moved to very large submerged, self-powered “oceanspheres.”  The pens will travel with the ocean current untethered, using geostatic positioning technology.

Aquaculture is an appealing way to halt fish stock decline, but traditional methods have caused environmental and wild stock problems.  Some farms are disease prone, marine life has suffocated below farms, and farm escapees have harmed wild stock.  HOT’s novel approach should avoid these problems.  The secure kevlar net spheres will be 1,300 feet below the surface in open ocean where strong currents will keep the pens clean and the fish will have plenty of space.  The diameter of each sphere will be about 56 yards, creating 82,500 cubic meter pens.  Construction is expected to begin in 2010. 

Kona Blue farm currently produces open ocean Ahi near the airport, using pens tethered to the sea floor.  Their Ahi show no significant traces of mercury or contaminates, which cannot be said about wild stock.  HOT’s new roaming pen technology is yet another step in the right direction for fish lovers on Hawaii Island and around the world.